The Memphis Grizzlies and Utah Jazz struck the first blockbuster of NBA trade season, with two-time All-Star and former Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr. officially on his way to Salt Lake City.
Here are the full details, as reported by ESPN's Shams Charania:
- Memphis also receives Utah's 2027 first-round pick (swap with CLE), LAL's 2027 first-round pick (top-4 protected), and Phoenix's 2031 first-round pick
Grizzlies trade grade: B+
This is a noisy trade, and we don't often see eight players changing teams in a single midseason move. But for the Grizzlies, this is simply an admission of defeat. Jackson's five-year, $205 million extension is now offloaded to Utah, with the Jazz clearly attempting to expedite their competitive timeline. The Grizzlies clean the books with a bunch of smaller, more managable contracts — and, obviously, at to their growing mountain of future picks.
Add this to the Desmond Bane trade last summer, and Memphis now has 13 first-round picks over the next seven years, tied with OKC and Brooklyn for the most in basketball.
Taylor Hendricks and Walter Clayton Jr. are interesting young players with some upside. Kyle Anderson and Georges Niang are basic salary filler. Anderson is under contract through next season at less than the mid-level exception, while Niang will be a free agent at season's end.
Memphis could add to its impressive asset collection at the deadline, with Ja Morant very much on the market. This feels like a precurssor. There was a world in which Memphis dealt Morant and kept Jackson. It's much harder to imagine them trading Jackson and keeping Morant, unless the market for the All-Star point guard is totally, irreversibly dead.
The Grizzlies should feel extra strongly about this trade due to their impressive track record of drafting quality talent at all stages of the draft. Memphis has an excellent scouting department and typically hits when and where it needs to hit. So the Grizzlies can expect to more or less maximize the value of these picks, wherever the cards fall.
Jackson is an awesome player and a beloved figure in Memphis, so this one undoubtedly stings for the Grizz faithful. It hints at a long road ahead, one that requires great patience, but Memphis is set up as well as any team in basketball to build a contender from the ground up. The Ja Morant-Jaren Jackson era flopped early. It is what it is. Now, the Grizzlies are on to bigger and (hopefully) better things.
Jazz trade grade: B
This is a fascinating swing from the Jazz. On the surface, it's an odd time to be shelling out future picks and expediting their competitive timeline. Utah's upcoming first-round pick is only top-eight protected, meaning if the Jazz land outside the top eight on lottery night, it belongs to OKC. So there is short-term risk. On the other hand, this is objectively solid value for a 26-year-old with Jackson's bonafides, even if that contract is a heavy weight on Utah's books moving forward.
The Lakers' 2027 pick figures to land outside the lottery. Phoenix's 2031 first-round pick is a golden asset, to be frank, but we can't know just how golden at this point. Utah clearly does not plan on tanking in 2027, which increases their confidence in a trade like this.
Utah still has a lot of picks with which to facilitate future trades or to continue building on the margins. Jackson is under lock and key through 2028-29, with a 2029-30 player option worth $53 million. Given Utah's inability to attract players like Jackson in free agency, this was a calculated swing to add a major talent with years of control. It could backfire — or it could blossom into something special.
The Suns pick is going to haunt the dreams of Jazz fans for a while, but Jackson figures to win them over quickly. Utah's ascent to playoff contender probably waits until next season, but their long-term frontcourt of Walker Kessler, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Lauri Markkanen presents an incredible blend of size, defense and skill. Jackson and Markkanen are both highly versatile shooters for their size; Kessler and Jackson could form the most suffocating defensive frontcourt in the NBA.
With Keyonte George coming into his own as a potential franchise point guard, and with Ace Bailey still developing on the back burner, Utah has a genuinely positive outlook over the next couple years. The Jazz can keep adding, either via trade or in the offseason. If the Jazz manage to keep their top-eight pick and add another premium prospect to the mix, then the Ainges are really cooking with gas.
Most folks expected Utah to keep trudging through this rebuild at a snail's pace, but the front office has made it very clear that the plan was always to contend in the near future. This is the first step in that direction. It's not without risk, and there will always be the question of "is Jaren Jackson the right use of those picks," but this is a fun step in a more competitive direction for the Jazz.